Afib and flutter

[SK031252]

I am in Permenant Afib and Aflutter now. I was told the year my husband died that I also had HF. Then three years later that I don’t? When my cardio takes a EKG he give me my normal HR which is about 71 the he also tells me my af heart rate. How can that be. I have had af since I was 58. Lone afib. Had 4 ablations. Also HBP. Usually top in 140s and bottom 90s. Now controlled. I am taking diltiazem 30 three times a day. Metoprolol er 100 twice a day. And losartan. Also Norvasc. That’s all for hr and bp. Does seem to work. Once in a while I have an episode of afib or aflutter

[Hidden]

Hello SK031252

We have your previous posts. Your questions this time are not clear. Perhaps you would like to try again.

[Ppiman]

Heart failure (HF) can be a permanent or a temporary diagnosis. It is not a useful phrase unless you are a doctor, it seems to me. It is also hard to diagnose fully until it reaches a certain point. I think you are like many people with Af /AFl, and likely have a reduction on your heart's pumping ability when the arrhythmia is causing a fast rate, since the makes the heart less efficient (i.e. it induces a temporary "heart failure").

I guess your doctor is describing the background heart rate of 71bpm, which is healthy, and the peak AF/AFl rate, which isn't. Your BP is normal but that, too, can't easily or accurately be measured when your heart is in arrhythmia, so your doctor is maybe making a best guess.

Losartan is for high BP but also (as in my case) to keep the bottom pumping chambers from being over stressed and healthier. The beta-blocker, metoprolol, and calcium agonist, Norvasc, are keeping your heart rate lower.

If you are in "permanent" AF/AFl, then your heart is always arrhythmic (i.e. beating irregularly), so when you say "once in a while I have an episode", I am not sure what that means. I guess you mean that either you don;t have AF permanently (i.e. all the time) or you feel symptoms occasionally. If the latter, then this seems to me it might be because you have breakthrough heart racing (i..e your heart beats too quickly and less efficiently, bringing on symptoms).

I hope you are coping okay with your tragic loss. Three years can seems like three weeks at times. I know that life brings some of us its own version of hell at times and losing a loved one is one version of that.

Steve

[Amelia123_usa]

Hello SK031252, I am so sorry to hear about your husband. I would like to try to help regarding your question about metoprolol. But I am not clear what your question is. Would you like to clarify that?

I have paroxysmal AFib. I take 2 metoprolol succinate ER 25 mg tablets when I get an episode. If the afib hasn't stopped 2 hours later, I take one more 25 mg tablet. After some time it finally goes away. Let me know more specifically what your question is, and hopefully I will have something helpful to add.